Good Beginnings
by tiffywiffyfluffykitty
Summary: Exhausted after a night of studying, Lily Evans stumbles up the wrong staircase and wakes up in James Potter's bed. Embarrassed and furious, she refuses to acknowledge him, but would a run in with some enraged Slytherins bring them closer than before?


**Cliché, I know, but I couldn't resist. I wanted them to kiss and get together at the end at first, but then I was like, nope, that's moving too fast. So I made them friends. Anyhoo, I hope you will enjoy this. Please review if you likey :3 **

* * *

**Good Beginnings**

It was 5 in the morning on a chilly day in November. Lily Evans, Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, stumbled into the Common Room of Gryffindor Tower, bleary-eyed and sleepy, her bag slung over her shoulder and her steps dragging and heavy.

She had just come from the library after studying for a Transfiguration exam on Monday and, since she was more or less a dunce at Transfiguration, had stayed up in the library to read up on transfiguring inanimate objects into live mammals, of which they had to be completely transfigured. After successfully transfiguring several library books into tabby kittens and changing them back, Lily had finally, and triumphantly, let herself out of the library to go back to her dorm to sleep.

With the common room in near darkness and her own eyes tired and unfocused, Lily stumbled up one of the staircases and up several flights of stairs before opening a door at random and lurched in, thinking it was her own dorm room. She approached one of the beds and dropped her bag in the ground and kicked off her shoes before falling heavily into the warm sheets, not noticing that someone else was already in there.

* * *

When James Potter woke, the first thing he noticed was that there was a very soft and warm weight right next to him. The second thing he noticed was that something smelled very good, like strawberries with cream with a hint of roses and lavender. The third thing he noticed was that he was holding the warm, soft thing with the very nice scent.

His eyes blinked open with confusion and he saw a blur of red right by his face. Frowning with confusion, he groped behind him for his glasses and pushed them on.

His mouth dropped open with surprise.

Lily Evans was in his bed, sleeping soundly while dressed in her rumpled school robes, pressed close to him while he held her in his arms.

Was this still a dream? He seemed to recall him dreaming about holding her close…

Slowly moving his arm, not wanting to wake her, he took his hand off of her waist and reached down and pinched his thigh, the sharp sting making him jump slightly.

Nope, this was not a dream.

James sucked in a breath, unsure of what to do. One arm was still underneath her and while he hated to remove it, it was steadily growing numb.

But he couldn't care about that now, not while the girl of his dreams was lying in _his_ bed, sleeping with _his_ arms around her. For real.

Of course, he knew that when she woke up, it would be back to her throwing insults in his face, her beautiful green eyes flashing with anger and contempt, and his own mouth throwing insults and taunts back at her even as his heart ached with sadness that she would hate him as passionately as he loved her. He sighed and his hand reached up to tenderly brush back several strands of her fiery hair out of her face. Might as well enjoy the moment, while he can.

His eyes flicked up and he froze.

Frank Longbottom, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black were staring down at him, their expressions ranging from complete astonishment to wicked delight.

"Well, hello there, Prongsie," Sirius said, his wide Cheshire grin never failing. "I didn't realize you had company last night."

James groaned. "It isn't what you think, Sirius."

"Oh, really? Cause it looks _exactly _like what I think, James. Look! Even her robes are messy! Do you really think I'll believe you even if you said that you and Lilyflower haven't been doing the deed last night?"

"I woke up this morning and she was here. I don't know how it happened!"

Sirius nodded sagely. "Denial is the first sign, my dear Prongs."

"Sirius," Remus sighed. "I don't think Lily would even allow it to get that far just yet." He shot James an odd look. "Unless they've been secretly dating behind our backs."

"Moony! Not you too!" James stared at his friend, feeling betrayed.

"Guys, I don't think anything happened," Frank said a little nervously. "Sure, we know James has fancied Lily for years and he's a bit obsessed about her but even I don't think James would be dim enough to mistake rage for passion."

"What?" James blinked at him.

Sirius looked a little lost as well. "Frank, mate, I'm not following you."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I am surrounded by idiots. He means that he doesn't think even James would be stupid enough to think that Lily was madly in love with him when she actually hates him."

James felt his heart dropping when he heard Remus say that Lily hated him. "Yeah… Yeah, I won't."

Sirius caught on to his dejected tone and shot his best mate a sympathetic look. "Well, what should we do now? You know Evans is going to blow when she realizes where she woke up."

"We can try levitating her so James can remove his arm and then we can skedaddle," Frank said.

Sirius looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. "Skedaddle?"

Frank rolled his eyes and pulled out his wand. "_Wingardium Levio—_"

Sirius squeaked and hid behind one of the curtains while Remus took a step back and James paled.

Lily Evans has woken up.

She yawned and stretched, her taut body pressing right up against James for a second. His breath caught and she seemed to notice something was wrong for she opened her eyes.

A second or two passed as Lily and James stared at one another, one disbelieving and the other sheepish. Then Lily let out a scream.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED, POTTER?!" Her eyes flickered down to his bare chest and the slightest hint of a blush colored her cheeks. "AND WHY AREN'T YOU WEARING A SHIRT?!"

"Actually this is my bed, not yours," James said, throwing in his two cents. "And I never wear a shirt while I sleep."

Lily seemed to swell up with rage. "WELL GET OUT!"

"Lily, you crawled into _my _bed. So _you_ should get off." James raised his eyebrows at her and she snarled, shooting upright.

"Then how in Merlin's saggy left butt cheek—"

"Merlin's saggy left butt cheek?" James and Sirius repeated, highly amused.

"—did I get IN YOUR BED?!" Lily yelled, her face turning a bright red that clashed horribly with her hair.

"What's going on?" a groggy voice said, and Peter Pettigrew came into view. His pale gray eyes met hers. "Lily?" he gasped. His eyes flickered to her and James and back again. "You two weren't—"

"Of course not!" Lily said, exasperated.

"Lily, calm down," Frank said cautiously. "Now, what do you remember about last night?"

She stilled and her face took on a thoughtful look. James turned to Frank. "How come she listens to you and not me?"

Frank sighed. "If you antagonize her, it'll just make things worse."

"Oh! I remember now!" Lily gasped. "I was staying in the library studying for that Transfiguration test on Monday!"

"Do you ever think about anything other than exams?" James groaned, reaching over and grabbing a shirt and slipping it on.

"There are other things more important than exams," Sirius said, plopping down on the bed next to James.

"Like what?" Lily asked, shifting slightly away from Sirius.

He and James exchanged a look. "Quidditch," they replied in unison.

Remus sighed and Peter cracked a grin. Frank didn't know whether or not to laugh at Lily's disbelieving look. She sighed. "Well, I'm getting out of here. Another second with you all and I'll lose a couple more brain cells."

She made as if to stand, but James grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back into the bed, rolling on top of her to trap her underneath him. Sirius wolf whistled as Lily screamed. "JAMES! WHAT ARE YOU _DOING?!" _She squirmed underneath him, her face pressed into the sheets.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" James bellowed dramatically. "Don't leave me, Lilyblossom! I fear my heart shall break even more if you do!" He held on tighter, but not tight enough as to hurt her.

"I'll report you to McGonagall for sexual harassment," Lily hissed, trying to ignore the fact that James smelled… amazing. And the fact that the heat of his body was soaking into her, making her feel warm and fuzzy. It also didn't help that he was very toned, in a lithe way. God damn Quidditch.

"Come on, Lily, you don't want me to do something drastic, now do you?" He whispered in her ear. Lily fought down a shiver as his warm breath tickled her.

"You touch me and I'll make sure you'll never have children," she snarled. "Now let go of me, Potter, or so help me I will hex you so bad you'll wish you've never been born, you pathetic little maggot."

James let go of her and she bolted upright, sprinting out of the room. James sighed as he watched her go, already missing her warmth and her scent. He buried his face in the pillow she'd been sleeping on, catching the remnants of it.

"Oh don't be too sad, Jamsie-pie," Sirius cooed. "You'll get another chance one day."

Prongs let out a groan of disappointment as Remus shook his head. "I wonder what it'll take this time for her to forgive you."

* * *

Over the next week, Lily avoided James like the plague despite the fact that they were both Heads and had to patrol together nearly each night. James respected her distance and kept to himself, only quietly and sadly looking after her when he thought she couldn't see.

Sirius, unsure of how to deal with the situation, set up elaborate pranks in an attempt to make James laugh, but that only made Lily angrier, thinking James was behind this, and made James even more subdued under the weight of Lily's fury.

On Friday night, Sirius and Peter were playing a game of wizard's chess in the common room as Remus read a book and James wistfully watched Lily, who was animatedly talking with her two best friends, Marlene McKinnon and Alice Prewett.

"James," Remus said quietly, catching the attention of the rest of the Marauders. "If you feel bad, try explaining to her that you didn't mean for last Sunday morning to happen."

"But Moony, it wasn't even his fault!" Sirius piped up. "Lily showed up in Prongs' bed, not the other way around!"

"I know, but he shouldn't have antagonized her further by, er, forcibly pinning her down on the bed. It _was_ a form of sexual harassment, you know."

James groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I know, and I didn't mean it. It was only a bit of fun."

"You were lucky Lily didn't report it," Remus replied tartly. "You could've gotten severe detention. Or suspension."

"Oi! Whose side are you taking?" Sirius said indignantly. "Lily's or James's?"

"I'm not choosing a side. I'm just pointing out that James shouldn't have done what he did. And it isn't really Lily's fault; she was exhausted and went to the wrong dorm." Remus shrugged. "Either way, they both have to apologize: James for being a prat, Lily for… for…" He took on a thoughtful look. "For yelling, I guess."

James sighed. "You're right. She was just overreacting and I made it worse. I need to apologize." He cast another look at the girl, who was studiously ignoring him. "But every time I approached her to apologize, she just shook me off."

"So you did try!" Sirius gasped. "I thought you'd lied down and taken it like a kicked puppy!"

"Very nice, Padfoot. Thanks for believing in me," James said sarcastically. He glanced at his watch. "Lily and I have patrol in a minute. Wish me luck."

"Good luck!" Peter said. Sirius punched him affectionately in the shoulder and Remus gave him a nod and a quick smile.

Clearing his throat, James approached Lily, who stiffened as he came closer. "Er, Lily?" he asked tentatively. "We have patrol now."

"I know what time it is, Potter," she replied and he flinched at the freezing tone she used as she said his surname. She stood and turned on her heel, marching away. "Let's go."

He gave a quick nod to Marlene and Alice, both of whom gave him small smiles in return, and hurried after Lily, who was already disappearing out the portrait hole.

The two of them walked through the corridors in silence, James trailing slightly behind her. His eyes kept flickering to her, taking in her stiff back and her stiff stride as well as the way her hair blew back from the speed of her walk and brushed against him. He let out a tiny sigh and turned his eyes forward.

They started from the seventh floor and made their way down to the dungeons, interrupting late night strolls and couples snogging in broom cupboards and empty classrooms. Lily was especially nasty tonight, taking away points despite the protests coming from the students and James himself.

By the time they made it past the Great Hall, James was in a bit of a foul mood tonight as well. More than twice, Lily had undermined his authority and when he'd tried to reason with her once, she'd shot him a glare that made his very blood turn to ice.

They wandered down to the dungeons and was passing by one of them when they heard voices.

"I don't want to hear any more excuses!" James halted and thrust an arm out in front of Lily, who threw him a furious look. He put a finger to his lips and pulled her behind him.

"Well what do you want me to do?" a grouchy voice replied. James thought he recognized Goyle.

"I don't care what you have to do! That last prank on us from Potter and Black made us the laughingstock of the school for a week!" someone snarled.

James rolled his eyes. It was so like Slytherins to be such drama queens. He crept forward, still listening.

"I think we should teach them a lesson they'll never forget." It was Mulciber's voice.

"What do you have in mind?" Crabbe, or Avery.

"I say we should—"

"Evening, boys," James said loudly, stepping into the room. He saw Mulciber, Crabbe, Goyle, Avery, Wilkes, and Snape look up. Behind him, James heard Lily groan with exasperation and step in as well. Snape's eyes sharpened as the Head Girl came in, making James tense up slightly.

"Potter," Avery spat. "What are you doing here?"

"I hate to interrupt your charming tête-à-tête, but you'll have to do it back in your common room. We don't want slimy Slytherins having a—" He mentally counted in his mind for a quick second. "— sixsome in here."

"A sixsome?" Lily snorted. "I don't think that even exists."

"Sod off, Mudblood," Mulciber growled.

James, furious, pulled out his wand, prompting the rest of them to do so as well. "Don't you dare call her that," he snarled. "Ten points each from Slytherin."

"You'll pay for that, Potter," Crabbe said, eyes glinting with rage. "_Stupefy!"_

James ducked and the red light shot over his head. He blocked the next two spells, having no time to glance back to see if Lily was alright, although his heart pounded in worry for her and the adrenaline of the fight.

"_Petrificus totalus!" _someone shouted and Wilkes froze up, falling flat on his face.

"Nice one, Lily!" James shouted, a fierce grin on his face. "_Tarantallegra!" _

Snape began to do a Russian folk dance, in which he promptly fell over even as his legs continued to move wildly. James roared with laughter and blocked another jinx shot at him from Goyle.

"_Anteoculatia!"_Lily cried and Crabbe, already growing nasty warts from a rebounding hex from Mulciber, started growing huge twisting horns.

Mulciber shot a purple light at Lily, who screamed as a long gash opened up on her leg. She stumbled, unable to keep weight on it and pressed her robes to the wound, trying to staunch the blood.

"LILY!" James screamed. "_STUPEFY!"_ Mulciber was knocked back into the wall, a lump growing on his head.

"_Impedimenta!" _Lily gasped out, pointing her wand at Avery. "_Furnunculus!"_

James gritted his teeth. He had to end this now so that he could get Lily to the hospital wing. He reached inside his robes and pulled something out.

"James!" Lily said disapprovingly. "Do you always carry Dungbombs on you?"

"Now is not the time, Lily dear," he replied. He threw the Dungbomb to the ground, at the same time stowing away his wand and sprinting over to Lily. He picked her up and ran out the door just as the bomb went off, to the yells and curses of the Slytherins.

"James! Ow!" Lily whimpered as his movement jostled her bleeding leg.

"Sorry!" he yelped.

They burst into the hospital wing, startling Madam Pomfrey, who was tending to a first year with a face full of boils. "Mr. Potter! What are you…" Her gaze landed on Lily and she pointed to a nearby bed. "Put her there. I'll get something for her soon."

James gently laid her on the bed and Lily rolled her eyes. "James, I'm not dying," she said sarcastically. "It's just a scratch."

"If it's only a scratch, then why is it about a foot long and gushing blood?" he demanded, pointing his wand at her robes. "_Scourgify."_

She looked at him oddly. "I could've done that myself. _Scourgify!" _The blood disappeared from James's hands and sleeves.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"You're welcome," she replied.

Madam Pomfrey bustled over. "What happened?" she asked, pulling out her wand.

"Slytherins," James said grimly. He suddenly grinned. "Did you see Snivellus doing that jig? Merlin, I wish I had a camera. Would make for some good laughs."

Lily sighed, but had to suppress a grin of her own as Madam Pomfrey closed her wound with a few muttered spells and wrapped it up. "Now you sit here while I get a blood-restorative potion for you."

"Is that really necessary?" Lily complained. She didn't usually whine, but she was tired after the adrenaline from the fight had worn off. All she wanted to do now was sleep.

"Your leg looked like a mess, Lily," James said. "I think you should take one just on the safe side."

Madam Pomfrey bustled away and Lily shot him an annoyed look, but he held up his hand to stop her. "Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for last Sunday. I was just teasing, but I know I went too far and I'm really sorry about that and I don't want you to be mad at me anymore and I hope you'll forgive me because I hate it when you're mad and it just hurts." James knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help it.

"No, I-I should be apologizing," Lily said, blushing. "I overreacted and I know I shouldn't have yelled at you and threatened you."

"No, I—what?" He blinked at her, stunned. "Did you just apologize to me?"

"Yes," she snapped, her face coloring. "And this'll be the only time, you hear me?"

"Uh, I, uh, sure," James stammered.

"Good," Lily huffed and looked away. The two remained in silence until Madam Pomfrey returned with a small vial of dark red potion, which Lily downed with a disgusted look.

The two walked back to Gryffindor Tower in silence, each in their own thoughts. "Flibbertigibbet," Lily said to the Fat Lady, who swung open.

As they entered the empty Common Room, Lily sighed and turned to James. "Look, thanks for carrying me to the hospital wing. I know… we aren't on the best of terms and Merlin knows I've called you an arrogant toerag enough times but…" She blushed again and held out her hand. "You aren't a bad person, James."

James, stunned that she called him by his first name and for a good many reasons, took it and they shook hands, although he continued to hold on to hers. "So… what does this make us?" he asked.

She offered him a tentative smile. "Friends?"

Although James would've liked to be more than just friends, he knew when to count his blessings. "Friends, then." They shook again and Lily began to head up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. "Oh, and Lily?"

She turned. "Yes, James?"

He grinned as his chest fluttered, happy that she called him by his first name. "Want to—" He stopped, chastising himself for nearly destroying their newfound friendship. "Good night."

Lily smiled back at him. "Good night."

As James watched Lily move up the stairs, he couldn't help but think that they were off to a good beginning. She may not want to be the mother of his cute messy-haired, emerald-eyed babies yet, but this was good. This was a start.

Elated, he charged up the stairs and burst into the room, where Sirius and Remus were still up, waiting for him to get back. "Padfoot, Moony," he said, smiling broadly. "You'll never guess what happened."


End file.
